The MadAss and the BadAss

I had a unique opportunity today.

We’re shipping lots of bikes overseas these days. One of our overseas customers who bought a full shipping container of California Scooters and accessories also picked up a Sachs MadAss, a bike with very unusual modern styling.  He asked us to pack the MadAss into the shipping container with all of his new CSC motorcycles, and we’re  happy to oblige.   The really cool part is that we had an opportunity to wring out the Sachs.  Hey, that’s we live for…checking out new bikes and comparing them to ours.

Two flat black bad boys...the CSC Greaser and the Sachs MadAss

The title of this blog is a cool one, and it naturally flows from the name Sachs gave to their bad boy (the MadAss), and what more than a few folks have called our Greaser.  The Madass and the BadAss.  Cool.

For starters, we don’t view the MadAss as a competitor to our bikes.  Nobody that I’m aware of ever labored over trying to decide whether to buy a CSC motorcycle versus a Sachs (or a CSC versus anything else, for that matter).  Folks who want a California Scooter wouldn’t consider any other bike, and I’m sure folks who buy other iconic products feel the same way (folks who pull the trigger on a Vespa, a Harley, a BMW, or a KLR 650 know what they want, and they typically don’t consider other marques).  

That said, I’ll tell you that the Sachs appears to me to be a good product.  It’s not something I’d buy, but I recognize that the folks who engineered and built the MadAss did a good job.

A detail composite shot of both bikes' engines and tanks

Some things I noticed about the Sachs immediately…the seat is tall (way tall), and it slopes forward.  I felt like I was sliding forward off the thing the whole time I was on it, and my wrists were carrying a lot more weight than they would on my red CSC Classic.  Something else that was a little unusual…the kill switch on the Sachs does not cut off everything.  I almost ran the battery down trying to start the Sachs’ 125cc mainland Chinese motor before Tony noticed the kill switch was in the “kill” position.  On our bikes, if the kill switch is in the kill position, the bike and everything on it is dead (lights, starting circuit, engine, etc.). We like that for safety reasons.

So after I finally realized what was going on with the kill switch (a “duh” moment if ever there was one), I got the little Sachs out on the road.  I’ll tell ya, it wasn’t bad (other than feeling like I was gonna slide forward off the seat).  It was pretty peppy, but it topped out about 10 mph lower than my California Scooter.  I guess that’s to be expected with the smaller engine (theirs is a 125, ours is a 150). The styling is different, and to me, it evoked a kind of moped image.  Not bad, but nothing I’d really be interested in for a personal bike.  It’s all part of the fun in getting to try to new bikes.

Our next comparo test?

Or maybe old bikes.   Hmmmm.   There’s that ’53 Mustang Pony on the other side of the wall.  What do you think?   Should I convince Steve to let me ride it and do a comparison test to a new California Scooter?